9 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza Strip

By Ahmed Riyad

GAZA CITY, Palestine (AA) - At least nine Palestinians were killed and several others injured on Saturday in Israeli attacks on various areas of the Gaza Strip.

Medical teams told Anadolu that they recovered the bodies of five Palestinians after the Israeli army withdrew from the Al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, which it had entered on Friday.

Israeli military vehicles withdrew from the Al-Shakoush area, northwest of Rafah, approximately 24 hours after entering it, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

Medical sources also said that four Palestinians were killed and 10 others injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted the home of the Al-Ghazi family in the Al-Sabra neighborhood, south of Gaza City.

Meanwhile, eyewitnesses reported that Israeli military tanks and bulldozers destroyed around 1,235 acres of agricultural greenhouses in the area northwest of Rafah, which was the last remaining land in the strip planted with vegetables.

On Friday, the Israeli army advanced into the Al-Shakoush area within Al-Mawasi, west of Rafah, prompting thousands of Palestinians to flee from their tents to the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The displacement occurred after several tents were bombed and burned in the camp located in the far northwest of Rafah, resulting in deaths and injuries among the displaced, eyewitnesses reported to Anadolu.

They also informed Anadolu that an Israeli drone strike in a central Gaza City park resulted in several Palestinian casualties.

Meanwhile, for the fourth consecutive day, Israeli forces continued their military operation in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, under heavy artillery fire, targeting homes, roads, and infrastructure.

The Palestinian Civil Defense Service reported numerous appeals from families trapped in Shujaiya, highlighting that many are injured and still under constant Israeli shelling.

The Civil Defense has urged the International Committee of the Red Cross to respond swiftly to these distress calls and assist the wounded and those still alive.

On Thursday, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in the Shujaiya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, on Wednesday.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas.

Over 37,800 Palestinians have since been killed in Gaza, most of them women and children, and more than 86,800 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Over eight months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered Tel Aviv to immediately halt its operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi